


Rare Collectible Hug

by SivValkyrie



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, I Can't Believe its not Smut! (New margarine brand), The title isn't song lyrics this time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28582866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SivValkyrie/pseuds/SivValkyrie
Summary: Hordak has his first kiss, and Entrapta tells him more about relationships and affection. Set after the series finale.A gift for my girlfriend who watched She-Ra just because I asked her to.
Relationships: Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 55





	Rare Collectible Hug

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ZaharaKnots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZaharaKnots/gifts).



Hordak’s new lab had a sort of warmth to it now that he was sharing it with Etheria’s top scientists. No longer would he spend a day alone, holed up in one room as he watched his little world on a screen. That life was so lonely, even if he didn’t care to admit it.

“Which shade do you like more for the walls?” Entrapta asked, without realizing she was shouting.

Hordak would normally growl. He took a deep breath, clearing his throat, and the urge passed. “It does not matter which shade the walls are painted.” He hadn’t even looked at her and continued welding a piece of piping to their First One’s super-computer.

“Silly. Of course it matters! You and I are spending a lot of time in here, just like the old days! I hope.” Entrapta held up the two swatches, using her hair to grab her friend by the head and make him look her way.

Entrapta evidently liked interior design, but boy, was she bad at it. Both shades were hideous variants of eggplant. Hordak struggled to be nice, even though it usually came easier with her. She never judged him for his honesty. “Neither. I do not like purple,” he spat angrily, jerking his head away to focus on his project again.

This didn’t seem to bother his lab partner, who sometimes could be oblivious to his body language. She simply took his words for what they were- he just didn’t like purple. “Okay!” Entrapta shrugged it off. “What color do you like, then?”

Hordak… didn’t seem to like this question. He swallowed, focusing more on the work with his blowtorch. He wasn’t wearing a mask- it didn’t seem the sparks affected his skin at all.

Without a mask, Entrapta could see his face, and she desperately tried to figure out how he felt. “Did I upset you?”

“Slightly.” He sighed, turning the blowtorch off. The welding was done. He set it down, but still refused to meet her gaze. Instead, he focused on organizing his desk- as if it wasn’t already perfect.

“You know, it’s not wrong to like things. Tell me things you think about that make you feel good,” Entrapta said, sitting down in his desk chair.

He tried to ignore how irritated that made him. That was _his_ chair. “I do not have time for trivial things.”

Suddenly, Entrapta remembered his time in the hivemind. He wasn’t _supposed_ to like things or have opinions. He was made to blindly obey. She was going to coax him out of his comfort zone, though. “Well, you like science, obviously you wouldn’t be doing it every day.”

Hordak hesitantly added, “That is correct.” It was easier if she was the one to say it.

Entrapta started to treat this as a guessing game. “And you like being alone.”

“Not entirely. I was in solitude for a long time, Entrapta. While I do not prefer those frilly princesses, I do prefer spending time with others who make their intentions clear. Like you.”

“Aww! So does that mean you like me too?”

Hordak swallowed again, struggling with an answer.

“It’s okay if that makes you uncomfortable. You don’t have to get close to people,” She reassured him. She took a step back, expecting him to lash out. He never hurts her, but sometimes he throws things. They were working on it, though, and she never really felt unsafe around him. She’d been a prisoner, fought in an intergalactic war, and even had her own bots try to murder her. There was nothing he could do to hurt her.

He looked in the opposite direction, mumbling, “yes, I do like you. Exceedingly so, more than I should.”

“What do you mean, more than you should?”

“We are not allowed to have attachments to-“ He paused, remembering his freedom now that Prime was gone, and the many hours un-learning what he used to know. “Forgive me. I am allowed to have friends, now. …May I ask you, what do you do when you have a friend, but it feels different from other friendships?”

“Different?” Entrapta shuffled her feet. She was expecting him to say she made him upset. She was weird. Different. Not the ideal lab partner.

“Why are you upset? I do not understand the feeling, but it does not feel unpleasant. I quite enjoy the way you make me feel, Entrapta.”

She perked up. “Oh! I feel that way about you too. That’s called a crush! Two or more people get together in a relationship when they all have crushes on each other, that’s called a relationship.”

“Oh?” He turned towards her, the faintest of smiles on his face. “What do people do in relationships?”

“It depends on what everyone’s comfortable with. Physical affection, like kissing or hand holding is common, but not a necessity. I like to think being in a relationship is more about sharing your time and feelings with someone!”

“Kiss. Yes, I know what that is. Such a waste of energy, smashing your mouth against someone else’s.” He didn’t show any anger. If anything, he was confused. To him, she was the alien with the strange orifices and ways to use them.

Entrapta shrugged. “It feels nice. It’s like a hug, but a rare collectible hug.”

Hordak looked upset. He scowled, but other than his already _resting bitch face_ falling into a deeper frown, he didn’t react much. Was he… Jealous? “You have kissed others?” He asked softly, doing his best not to raise his voice at her. He hated yelling at her.

“Once, when I was seventeen. But that was like, eleven years ago. People just assume I don’t like affection or that I can’t give it back. They don’t even bother trying with me. But that’s fine, the best thing you can do is just learn how to be comfortable with yourself.”

That would break Hordak’s heart if he had one. “Etherians are bad news, I always said. You deserve better.”

“I have better. Even if it’s not romantic, I have you, and you’re all I really want.” Her hair wound around his waist as she moved closer, and she lifted herself off her feet and up to his face. She wanted to give him a hug, but when she felt him tense up, she waited there in front of him. “Are you alright?”

Hordak clenched his fists, feeling something in his stomach churn. The feeling wasn’t terrible, like always, but he didn’t know what to do. “Entrapta, help me.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I believe I am malfunctioning. I have begun to sweat, and your close proximity… Am I falling apart? Are carbon emissions from organic beings toxic to- to…” Hordak slowed to a stop, taking a deep breath as Entrapta watched him with those big pink eyes. She was so gentle and full of everything he thought he hated, and here he was, realizing he didn’t hate the way she made him feel.

“Can I?” Entrapta held his face, thumbs grazing his cheeks as she looked into his pale green eyes. She waited, holding her breath. To say she had goosebumps didn’t even begin to cover the feeling, but it was the only thought her usually active brain could come up with.

He nodded, clenching his fists again as she kissed him. It was nerve-wracking, as all first kisses are, but he resisted the urge to grab her by the head and punt her across the room. He didn’t know where to put his hands- so they stayed balled into fists at his side. Is he supposed to close his eyes? All he can see is her forehead. Despite all the things that should have made it uncomfortable, her lips were soft, and she smelled like motor oil and small cupcakes. He liked those smells. He liked her.

Less than three seconds had felt like forever, but Entrapta pulled away after their chaste kiss. “I- uh… yeah. Are you okay? If that was gross or weird, we don’t have to do it again.”

“I have mixed feelings about it. Am I supposed to enjoy how afraid that made me?”

Entrapta smiled nervously. “I’m with you on that one. We call it butterflies, I guess. We don’t have to do that again, it was just an experiment. I’m here if you want to try it again, though!” She started to let herself down.

“Experiments have to be done more than once to be considered credible,” Hordak tried, watching her lower herself to the floor. He felt like he let her down. It was hard for him to say it, through the armor around his heart, but he wanted to be enough for her. The thought of some lowly Etherian kissing her, claiming that rare collectible hug for themselves- that was enough to make him commit war crimes again. “There must be controls, variables, recorded results.”

“I guess so,” Entrapta mentioned. “Are we gonna do this again?” She was trying not to look like that got her hopes up. She didn’t want to make him too upset if he said no. It was hard to hide, with the tips of her hair absentmindedly twitching, her face growing just the slightest shade of pink.

“Etherians are so amusing. Your blood is rushing to your cheeks, I can see it.” When she blushed more, he reached in, grazing a claw along her cheekbone. His other fingers rested under her chin and he slowly lifted it to meet her gaze, before leaning down to place a kiss on her temple. Another one landed on her cheek.

“These are easier,” Hordak mused again. “I am not sure if it is allowed to kiss other places, but I prefer it.”

“There’s no right or wrong way to kiss, it just depends what your partner is okay with,” Entrapta explained, her face flushed. Being touch starved is no fun until the object of your wildest dreams is grazing their scaly lips close to your ear. She tried to stifle a little sound, but it didn’t go unnoticed.

He straightened his back, standing up straight again, afraid of what that little whine meant. “We will continue our experiment and proceed further once we are more comfortable, if you accept. For now, we shall continue setting up our new lab. I do prefer the purple, actually.”

And that was enough to make Entrapta believe there was hope. He disbanded the Horde at Adora and queen Glimmer’s request- and that was a start- but now he was compromising, and now he wanted a kiss. This had to be the best day ever.

“Really! Oh, thank you! I promise the purple will look great with the concrete floors!” And with that, Entrapta went back to work.

So did Hordak, with those pesky butterflies still in his stomachs.


End file.
